Hall voters exclude Don Coryell, John Lynch

Don Coryell and John Lynch, two former NFL greats with ties to San Diego, were not among the 17 finalists who’ll be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month in New Orleans.

Voters selected four first-year nominees – Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, Warren Sapp and Michael Strahan – from a group of 27 semi-finalists that included Coryell and Lynch.

Football writers will meet in New Orleans to elect the Hall's class of 2013. Results will be announced on Feb. 2, a day before the Super Bowl.

Coryell, who coached the Chargers for nine years, developed offensive formations and passing-game concepts that revolutionized football and are still influential in the NFL.

Under Coryell, the Chargers won consecutive division titles from 1979-81 after not reaching the playoffs since 1966. Several of his former players or coaches, including head coaches Joe Gibbs and John Madden, became Super Bowl winners.

Lynch, who attended Torrey Pines High in Del Mar, won Pro Bowl honors nine times as a safety and started for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they won Super Bowl XXXVII at Qualcomm Stadium 10 years ago.

Drafted out of Stanford by the Bucs in 1993, Lynch was a hard-hitting playmaker and leader for Tampa Bay defenses that consistently ranked among the NFL’s best. Among his Bucs teammates was Sapp, a defensive tackle and seven-time Pro Bowler.

Named to four All-Pro teams in 11 years with the Bucs, Lynch joined the Broncos in 2004 and was Denver’s defensive captain in 2006 and 2007.

In 2006, Lynch collected the “Whizzer White” NFL Man of the Year award.

Both Lynch, 41, and Coryell, who was 85 when he died in 2010, are eligible for the Hall next year.